A MUM has thanked kind-hearted members of the public who came to the aid of her four-year-old son when he started choking on the way to only his second day of school.

An ex-Army veteran, a police officer, a respiratory doctor and a builder all helped to save Stefan Balogun from choking on the £1 coin.

The youngster swallowed it when he was being driven to the reception class at Green Meadow Independent Primary School in Lowton.

Mum Michelle Balogun, from Warrington, pulled her car over on Winwick Lane after becoming aware of the emergency last Tuesday.

Dr Abdul Ashish from Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and PC Phil Healy happened to be passing the scene and stopped to assist Stefan, as did Army veteran James Green and an unknown builder.

Michelle said: “He had managed to get inside his book bag, into an envelope and get the coin out and tried to swallow it.

“I pulled over and just grabbed him, tipped him up and started whacking his back – I was panicking.

“He kept trying to vomit but the coin was still stuck in his throat.

“The builder pulled up and called an ambulance and James took Stefan off me and started banging on his back.

“A man pulled up and said he was a respiratory doctor, of all the people to be there, and started helping to try to get the coin out.

"Then PC Phil came and helped to divert traffic and comforted Stefan.

“It was just meant to be that there was a respiratory doctor right behind me in his car.

"It was like fate.”

Stefan is now back to full health, with PC Healy returning to visit the four-year-old with police dog Mojo the following day.

The coin has since been framed as a memento of Stefan’s first trip to A&E.

Michelle added: “I was out of my mind with worry and what they did was so important.

“I couldn’t thank them enough – I can’t think about what would have happened if they weren’t there.

“I am a qualified nurse and even though I've had that training it just went out of my head when I saw him panicking.

"It was horrible.

“It was such a relief when I knew he was ok, and it was only afterwards that the enormity of what could have happened hit me.

“Stefan is back to normal now – even when we were coming out of A&E he was asking for sausage and chips.

“I just want to thank everyone for the amazing help they gave us.

"I will always be grateful for everything they did.”